This is a free public event. Co-Sponsored by UW Faculty of Arts and CIGI.
For those that did not get a chance to RSVP and still wish to attend- the phone number for our wait list is 519-885-2444 ext 379 (our RSVP Hot-Line) or you can email [email protected]. We send out a reminder notice to attendees the day before the event, and often have a few cancellations that we can fill from the wait list, but no guarentees.
About the lecture:
In coming decades, Canada and the world face an unprecedented convergence of natural, social, and economic stresses – worsening energy scarcity, changing climate, rapid population growth, mass migration, and widening gaps between rich and poor. At some point, these stresses are likely to cause sharp, sudden shifts in world order, including breakdown of economies and political systems. But this possibility is not, in itself, bad news. In times of crisis, people often show their greatest capacity to change their institutions and behaviours. How can we prepare for coming crises to make sure we’re ready to exploit this opportunity for reform and renewal?
Speaker Bio
Thomas Homer-Dixon holds the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada, and is a Professor in the Centre for Environment and Business in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. He was born in Victoria, British Columbia and received his B.A. in political science from Carleton University in 1980 and his Ph.D. from MIT in international relations and defense and arms control policy in 1989. He then moved to the University of Toronto to lead several research projects studying the links between environmental stress and violence in developing countries. Recently, his research has focused on threats to global security in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change.